Audit reveals prisoner chained to bed

The ACT Human Rights Commissioner has delivered a scathing assessment of the territory's current prison system.

The commissioner found in ACT remand centres, detainees, who should be presumed innocent, are subjected to the worst features of a strict prison regime, including frequent strip searching and compulsory drug testing.

The report highlights one case, in which a mentally ill detainee, who was HIV positive and suffering pneumonia, was chained to his hospital bed and guarded by two corrective services officers.

The Attorney General Simon Corbell says the findings strengthen the Government's case for a new prison in the ACT.

"The real challenge here is for critics of the new prison project to now justify their position given this damning outline of issues by the Human Rights Commissioner and the fact that she pinpoints the inadequacy of the existing facilities as the cause of many of the problems."